“Yeah, what Temari is saying is… actually kinda smart, you know?”

  Kankuro drawled, piling on the sarcasm thiough to spread on toast.

  “Unless your idea of ‘a good time’ involves turning into se post fertilizer about five minutes before the actual finish line?”

  He paused, as if genuinely sidering this horrifying possibility. “'Cause personally? I’m aiming for a stylish entrao that tuys. You know? Hair all perfectly coiffed. Puppets? Impeccably polished. Not all… covered in dirt and… genin guts."

  He actually shuddered at the very thought, wing dramatically and pulling a truly impressive ‘oh god, the horror’ face. “Seriously. Gross." He wrinkled his nose, just for added theatrical flourish.

  "Save all yet-pumped-up-and-violehusiasm for the actual challenge, why don't you? Because this,” he tinued, and then waved a hand – all dismissive flicks and utter disdain – at Kuro and his team, “this is just… pre-show filler material. And not eveely good pre-show filler, if you want my ho opinion." Kankuro, shade ninja master, dropping truth bombs of dismissive boredom like they were going out of style.

  Kuro finally let out this quiet sigh – more of a barely audible puff of air esg than an actual dramatic exhale of tension. Still, it was a release of something. Temari, he mentally ceded, actually had a point there. A strategically sound point, even. Tangling with the Sand Siblings, right here, right now? Yeah, that would be like using a tactiuke to deal with a particurly annoying mosquito. Utter overkill. Ridiculously messy.

  And, in the grand scheme of scroll-colleg and exam-passiirely and pletely pointless. Especially when they were still operating oo zero solid intel about Gaara's actual fight-metri a proper, drawn-out ninja dust-up. He khe highlight reels, the campfire stories, the whole whispered sand-demon legendarium. But direct, personal experience of getting in the ring with that level of… well, whatever Gaara was dishing out?

  Nope. Zero. Not today. Not without a very, very good strategic reason, and definitely not just fo-stroking or pre-exam ninja peacog. Discretion, as always, whispered his inner pragmatic voice, discretion was very much the preferred option, thank you very much. Discretion, and a very strong aversion to potentially getting turned into a rather unimpressive pile of se sandcastle by an oppo you hadn't properly analyzed yet.

  Xero, though you could practically see the tiny cartoon steam puffs ing out of his ears from sheer frustration at not getting to have a good old-fashioned ninja throwdown, and clearly still smarting from Gaara’s 'not worth my time' burn, just couldn’t resist getting i verbal poke. Even with Temari's (sort of) tru the air. He let out this theatrical scoff – big, loud, practically vibrated the leaves orees around them, desigo radiate maximum levels of mock-offended pride.

  "Oh, don’t worry, 'Puppet Master extraordinaire'," Xero shot back at Kankuro, voice positively dripping with more theatrical sarcasm than a Shakespearian tragedy performed by s. “We wouldn't even dream of, you know, actally messing up your… immacute puppet aesthetic with our lowly 'genin guts'. Perish the thought! And ‘pre-show filler material’?"

  Xero went on, voice esg in faux-e. “Ouch, dude. Harsh. We were clearly aiming for ‘headli’ material, but okay, fine, 'warm-up fodder,' whatever you o tell yourself to feel better about… your puppets."

  He finished off his semi-insult-semi-rant with this wildly exaggerated eye-roll, aiming it right at Kankuro, ser-precise and desigo vey maximum levels of teen angst and offended dignity. Despite the st-ditch verbal jabs though, you could see Xero visibly reining himself in. Not another muscle twitched towards esg anything.

  Even Xero, bless his chaotic soul, uood the basija life principle of… well, maybe not actual wisdom per se, but definitely ‘not getting turned into se sand granules just for the sake of proving a point’. Progress, of sorts.

  Reika, ever the voice of pure, distilled, un-cut pragmatism in their little travelling theatrical troupe of a genin team, gave a nod. Small. Barely there, if you weren’t actively looking for it. But it was a nod heless.

  A tiny, almost imperceptible ination of her head that transted, in Reika-speak, to a wholehearted “yeah, okay, makes sense. Pointless battle? Hard pass, thanks.”

  It was a silent, effit little aowledgment of Temari’s, let's face it, semi-sensible attempt at a truce. A nonverbal pact whispered across the tension-den clearing.

  ‘Let’s just… not do the whole dramatija death match thing right now, okay? Agreed? Cool.’ Reika and ‘pointless battles’ had what could be politely described as a ‘plicated’ retionship. Okay, maybe ‘plicated’ is underselling it.

  More like a retionship based on Reika's unwavering itment to avoiding them with the fervor most people reserve for avoiding tax audits or telemarketers. Pointless battles? For Reika, that was right up there with watg paint dry or listening to someone expin cryptocurrency for the tenth time – utterly ineffit, maximally irritating, and to be avoided at all costs unless absolutely, strategically mandatory. Which this, decidedly, was not.

  Kuro, after a blink-brief moment of internal… bad-forth – picture the 'must… engage… Gaara… for… sce?' impulse wrestling in a tiny, thought-bubble cage match with the slightly more dominant 'hmm, maybe… not… spontaneously bust… just… yet?' survival instinct – finally delivered his verdict.

  Whi Kuro-unication-style meant… a nod. Subtle. Minimalist to the point of being almost ent. It was directed vaguely in the general dire of the Sand Siblings, less a grand pronou of pead more of a… almost imperceptible dip of his . A visual cue that, if you were really paying attention and spoke fluent Kuro-nonverbal, trao: “Okay, firuce. For now.”

  Tactical retreat in the face of overwhelming sand-based existential threat? Nope, definitely not. Let’s not use such… emotionally loaded terms. More like… strategic repositioning for optimal future e probability.

  Yes, that sounds much more… ninja-ma-sultant appropriate. And definitely also for resource ma purposes.

  Because, you know, wasting precious chakra and potentially limbs in a pre-exam scuffle? Wildly ineffit. Utterly suboptimal resource allocation. And Kuro, above all, was a ninja reciated effit resource ma.

  Especially when that resource was, say, ‘not being turned into gritty desert art by a sand demon kid’. Efficy first, existential risk ter. That was the Kuro way.